Last Friday’s nights fire and explosion in a home in the Orleans County Town of Carlton has claimed a life. Homeowner 49-year-old Steven Broadwell died yesterday afternoon at Strong Memorial Hospital from severe injuries and burns received at the time of the blast. Two of Broadwell’s children, a son and daughter, were both injured, but not seriously. The fire remains under investigation by the Orleans County Office Emergency Management, the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control, and the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Texting while driving may have been the cause of that fatal accident on Tuesday morning that took the life of a Geneseo College Student. 22 year old Mary Kavanaugh of Sanborn in Niagara County was found dead in her car off route 36 in the Town of Leicester. Livingston County Sheriff’s Deputies theorize that Kavanaugh may have been texting where he car left the roadway and rolled over.

Quick action by three adults and two children helped save a man from serious injury last night. Dean Case of Swan Street was working on his car from underneath when the car slipped off the jack. The three persons Jeremy Fitzsimmons and Josh Fie both of Darien and resident Kim Koziol used a jack and two wheel ramps to get the car off Case, while the children called 911. Case was fully conscious when pulled from underneath the car. He was taken to UMMC for evaluation.

The fabulous females for 2010 have been announced by the Batavia YWCA. There are four and they are Susan Blanchard, Christine Fix, Pat LaPoint, and Millie Tomidy. The four will be honored at a luncheon at GCC on May 8th. Tickets for the event may be purchased now at the YWCA on North Street in Batavia.

Governor Paterson and state Legislative leaders do not appear any closer to striking a budget deal following a holiday break. New York faces a nine-billion-dollar deficit. Governor Paterson says the process has been slow to bridge the state budget gap with the two sides over six-billion-dollars apart in estimates. The governor is pushing for spending cuts, while state Assembly leaders are embracing Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch's plan to borrow money to avoid deep service reductions. Meanwhile, Republican state lawmakers say Democratic leaders are shutting them out of the budget talks, while they make plans to raise taxes. Lieutenant Governor Ravitch warns New York will run out of cash in less than two months.

Both parties have now named candidate if there should be a special election to fill the 29th district congressional seat vacated recently by Eric Massa. The Democrats have selected 28 year Matthew Zeller to face Republican Former Corning Mayor Tom Reed. At this point Governor David Paterson has not indicated if he will call for a special election. Paterson has said it may be too expensive for the counties involved to hold a special election. If there is no election, then Massa’s seat will remain vacant until this fall’s regular election.

If will be soft drinks only being served at two Buffalo strip clubs. In a ruling handed down by two judges, the two clubs will not be able to sell alcoholic beverages while the State Liquor Authority investigates recent problems at the two clubs, Rick’s Tally-Ho in Cheektowaga and 24KT Gold in Hamburg. The two establishments had their licenses revoked after federal prosecutors secured criminal indictments for alleged rampant drug and prostitution activity. The next Liquor Authority hearing is set for April 20th. 27 persons were criminaly charged in last month’s raids, but the owners have not been arrested and maintain they did not know the illegal activities were going on.